In yesterday’s Wall Street Journal, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice laid out a strong case for free trade with Colombia on U.S. security grounds. She also noted the following facts on how this deal will benefit U.S. workers: This agreement is also a far better deal for U.S. workers than the one they have now. At present, more than 90% of Colombian goods enter the U.S. duty-free, while our exports to Colombia face tariffs of up to 35%. This agreement would level the playing field for U.S. workers, enabling …
President Bush finally sent the Colombian free-trade deal to Congress today … just in time for it to qualify for fast track status. Congress now has 90 days to vote up or down on the deal. Trade with Colombia faces stiff opposition in the Democrat controlled Congress. Just a decade ago the a Democratic president supported free trade. Now meeting with America’s allies in support of free trade is a firing offense for aides of Democratic presidential campaigns: TURMOIL erupted in Hillary Clinton’s campaign on Sunday April 6th after Mark …
With rumors swirling that President Bush will submit the Colombia Free Trade deal to Congress Tuesday, Presdient Alvaro Uribe sat for interview with the Wall Street Journal. When told that Barack Obama opposed the deal citing violence against unions, Uribe replied: I deplore that Sen. Obama, apparently because he wants to be president of the United States, ignores all that Colombia has achieved. We would ask him to find out about our progress and efforts to better understand the situation before he makes the type of comments he has made. …
Today’s Free Trade Fact of the Day comes from Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry president and CEO Glenn Hamer who examines the benefits of trade with Colombia for Arizona but first notes: “Things are upside down in this country when the U.S. aids Hugo Chavez and hurts a Latin American ally such as Colombia.” Hammer continues: The Colombian trade agreement would have a direct impact on Arizona exports. Currently, Arizona is ranked 19 among the 50 states in terms of total exports in 2007. In 2007, Arizona’s export shipments …
When Congress returns from spring break March 31, President Bush is likely to send the U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement to Capitol Hill, triggering an up or down vote on the deal within 90 days. If Congress can put aside its fealty to Big Labor, then the trade deal will easily be approved. Unfortunately, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) insists on raising bogus objections about curbing violence toward union leaders in Colombia. Pelosi ignores the fact that the number of murders of trade unionists has dropped 75% since Colombia President Alvaro …
When Congress returns from spring recess, the Bush Administration is set to make a final push for passage of a the U.S.- Colombia free trade agreement. Last week, the White House put out a fact sheet on the deal including this paragraph on the benefits of the deal: A U.S.-Colombia free trade agreement will bring economic gains for both countries. Over 90 percent of U.S. imports from Colombia now enter our country duty-free, but U.S. exports to Colombia face tariffs up to 35 percent. Once implemented, the agreement will eliminate …
Since the President’s window for submitting the Colombia Free Trade Agreement to Congress in time to trigger a vote is rapidly shrinking, today’s Free Trade Fact of the Day will focus on the consequences of what will happen if protectionist forces win in Congress. From CATO’s Center for Trade Policy Studies: A comprehensive trade agreement would also benefit Colombia by opening its market to more import competition, encouraging more foreign investment, and strengthening its ties to the world’s largest economy. If Congress were to reject such an agreement, it would …
Upon their return from Colombia, People’s Weekly World reported that a delegation led by AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Linda Chavez Thompson “met with leaders of the major Colombian labor federations who told them they were opposed” to the U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement (TPA) because of “the harmful effects the deal would have on Colombian workers.” What People’s Weekly neglected to mention was that the U.S. labor delegation went out of its way to avoid any encounters with the heads of the many trade unions in Colombia that support the deal. …
In his final State of the Union address, the President not only raised the politically contentious issue of making tangible progress on advancing pending free trade initiatives, but also highlighted the importance of freer trade in helping America weather today’s economic turbulence and in promoting American competitiveness in the future. Identified as a top priority, U.S. leadership in concluding the Doha Round of multilateral trade negotiations in the World Trade Organization this year would – of all that remains on the free trade agenda – go the farthest toward allowing …
The President made a good case for congressional approval of the three pending trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia and Panama and their nearly 100 million customers. It was smart to frame the issue in terms of the many benefits these agreements will give to American workers “to compete with anyone in the world and empower them by opening up new markets overseas … [for] products ‘Made in the USA,’” as the President said. Especially with the economic uncertainty today, Bush underscored the urgent need for Congress to focus on …
